Culture

An Urban Garden in Philadelphia

Otto Architects creates a tiny backyard oasis.

Even the smallest projects can benefit from a little design expertise. Otto Architects’ Urban Garden, completed last summer, takes a barren 12-by-17-foot backyard in Philadelphia and turns it into a gracious outdoor room. Vines irrigated with captured rainwater cover the 6-foot-high walls, while salvaged, graffiti-covered boards clad the vertical surfaces of built-in planters, seating, and a metal-topped bar.